Chapter 6

Question 1

schedule of reinforcement

Answer 1

a program or rule that determines which occurence of a response is followed by the reinforcer.

Question 2

ratio schedule

Answer 2

in this schedule, the reinforcement depends only on the number of responses the organism has to perform

Question 3

continuous reinforcement

Answer 3

a schedule in which each response results in delivery of the reinforcer

Question 4

intermittent reinforcement

Answer 4

situations in which responding is only reinforced some of the time

Question 5

fixed ratio schedule

Answer 5

a schedule in which there is a fixed ratio between the number of responses and the number of reinforcers

Question 6

cumulative record

Answer 6

a special way of representing how a response is repeated over time

Question 7

post-reinforcement pause

Answer 7

the zero rate of responding that typically occurs just after reinforcement on a fixed ratio schedule (can also be thought of as a pre-ratio pause)

Question 8

ratio run

Answer 8

the high and steady rate of responding that completes each ratio requirement

Question 9

with higher ratio requirements, ____ post-reinforcement pauses occur

Answer 9

with higher ratio requirements, longer post-reinforcement pauses occur

Question 10

ratio strain

Answer 10

If the ratio requirement is suddenly increased a great deal, the animal is likely to pause periodically before the completion of the ratio requirement.

Question 11

variable-ratio schedule

Answer 11

the number of responses required for the reinforcer varies from one occasion to the next (VR10 = average of 10 responses, ex 7 and 13)

Question 12

pauses in VR compared to FR

Answer 12

predictable pauses in the rate of responding are less likely with VR schedules than the FR schedules. Organisms respond at fairly steady rates on VR schedules

Question 13

Interval schedules

Answer 13

a response is only reinforced if the response occurs after certain amount of time has passed

Question 14

fixed interval schedule

Answer 14

the amount of time that has to pass before a response is reinforced is constant from one trial to the next.

Question 15

fixed-interval scallop

Answer 15

The increase in response rate toward the end of each fixed interval

Question 16

variable interval schedule

Answer 16

the time required to set up the reinforcer varies from one trial to the next. The subject has to respond to obtain the reinforcer that has been set up, but now the set-up time is not as predictable.

Question 17

limited hold

Answer 17

a limited amount of time that the reinforcer remains available in FI or VI schedules

Question 18

rates of responding in FR and FI compared to VR and VI

Answer 18

FR and FI schedules produce high rates of responding just before the delivery of the next reinforcer.

VR and VI schedules both maintain steady rates of responding without predictable pauses

Question 19

What does the Reynolds experiment tell you about wages?

Answer 19

You can get employees to work harder for the same pay if the wages are provided on a ratio rather than an interval schedule

Question 20

inter-response time

Answer 20

the interval between successive responses

a participant who has mostly short IRTs is responding at a high rate. a participant who has mostly long IRTs is responding at a low rate

Question 21

IRTs and schedules

Answer 21

Interval schedules differentially reinforce long IRTs and, thus, result in lower rates of responding than ratio schedules

Question 22

T or F - there are higher response rates on ratio schedules

Answer 22

True

Question 23

feedback function

Answer 23

the feedback function for a ratio schedule is an increasing linear function with no limit

interval schedules have an upper limit on the number of reinforcers a participant can earn.

Question 24

concurrent schedule

Answer 24

a complex reinforcement procedure in which the participant can choose any one of two or more simple reinforcement schedules that are available simultaneously. Concurrent schedules allow for the measurement of direct choice between simple schedule alternatives.

Question 25

matching law

Answer 25

a rule for instrumental behavior, proposed by R.J. Herrnstein, which states that the relative rate of responding on a particular response alternative equals the relative rate of reinforcement for that response alternative

relies on the fact that the relative rates of responding match the relative rates of reinforcement

Question 26

response bias

Answer 26

response bias occurs when the response alternatives require different amounts of effort or if the reinforcer provided for one response is much more attractive than the reinforcer for the other response

Question 27

undermatching

Answer 27

less sensitivity to the relative rate of reinforcement than predicted by the matching law

Question 28

molar theories

Answer 28

molar theories explain the aggregates of responses, they deal with the distribution of responses and reinforcers in choice situations during an entire experimental session

Question 29

molecular theories

Answer 29

explain matching relations by focusing on what happens at the level of individual responses

Question 30

molecular maxmizing

Answer 30

according to molecular theories of maximizing, organisms always choose whichever response alternative is most likely to be reinforced at a given moment in time

Question 31

molar maximizing

Answer 31

molar theories of maximizing assume that organisms distribute their responses among various alternatives so as to maximize the amount of reinforcement they earn over the long run.

Question 32

melioration

Answer 32

a mechanism for achieving matching by responding so as to improve the local rates of reinforcement for response alternatives

Question 33

concurrent-chain schedule of reinforcement

Answer 33

a complex reinforcement procedure in which the participant is permitted to choose during the first link which of several simple reinforcement schedules will be in effect in the second link. Once a choice has been made, the rejected alternatives become unavailable until the start of the next trial. Concurrent-chain schedules allow for the study of choice with commitment.

Question 34

conditioned reinforcer

Answer 34

a stimulus that is present when the primary reinforcer is provided

Question 35

delayed discounting

Answer 35

decrease in the value of a reinforcer as a function of how long one has to wait to obtain it